


This is Where I Grew Up

by Notasmuch



Series: Wee!chesters [11]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, Multimedia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-19
Updated: 2011-02-19
Packaged: 2017-10-15 18:48:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/163796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Notasmuch/pseuds/Notasmuch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam gets a camera.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This is Where I Grew Up

**Author's Note:**

> Sam is 13, Dean is 17.

Photos are random, like Sam's life. New places, new people. Everything changes except for the car, Dad and Dean. Sam doesn't know how they manage to stay the same, he feels himself changing with every new name on the map..

 

 

There's a girl laughing on the playground. He wants to capture her laughter but the camera can't do that. He feels Dean is close by, he always can. Sam touches the camera and watches kids playing through it.

 

 

It's heavy and smells like old leather and metal. It hangs on a rubber strap that marks his neck red in the Texas heat. The black sign on the front says Nikon but it's fading with use and age. When Sam lies in the grass and puts it on his belly he can feel it even if he falls asleep. The pressure makes him smile. He can keep bits of life with him now. Delay the change.

 

 

Bobby gave it to him. "Don't take photos of anything you shouldn't." Sam nodded. He knew what that meant. He can't help but try and capture Dean anyway. Dean lets him. Dean trusts him.

 

 

A picture isn't everything. It's not the smell of freshly cut grass. It's not the sound of waves breaking on the shore. It's not mood shifting from tense to amused until their bellies ache with laughter. But it is a moment. A second of beauty. An art of ugliness. A part of the world he gets to steal.

 

 

Sam will develop the photos when he gets a full roll. He'll buy an album and sort them by date and look back and remember. His memories will fill the gaps between images. Dean laughs at him but ruffles his hair like he understands. Sam bats his hand away and hides his smile.

 

 

When there's only one photo left on the film Sam asks Dean to help him. They find the highest spot in town and climb it. Dean holds him tight while he stretches and takes a photo of everything all the way to the horizon. It's not pretty, towns they stay in never are. But that's a big chunk of world he took there.

 

 

It's always the same. Two boys alone for too long. Someone who cares notices. When Dean comes for him there's no time to search for what should be *right there*.  
Next time he sees a tree growing from a rock he reaches for the camera but his fingers grab his shirt instead. He does it for a week before he stops looking.


End file.
